1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to providing an interactive service to devices using different digital broadcast middleware standards, and more particularly, to providing an interactive service to devices with different digital cable broadcast middleware standards without modification of existing specifications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cable broadcasting is increasingly expected not only to be able to provide high-quality two-way services, but also to become a most suitable medium in the near future for broadcast/communication integrated services due to its capabilities to provide two-way services, achieve high transmission speeds and transmit considerable amounts of data.
In order to realize two-way digital cable broadcast services, set-top boxes (STBs), which are control boxes for receiving broadcast programs and performing various additional functions, are necessary.
STBs can provide bidirectionality to broadcasting, and are essential for the reception of digital broadcast programs with high picture quality and high sound quality and for the realization of two-way services. Thus, the importance of STBs to digital broadcasting has grown steadily.
Before the full implementation of digital broadcasting, a broadcast reception function used to be one of the main functions of STBs. However, with the digitalization of STBs, STBs have evolved into digital consumer devices that are capable of providing not only a broadcast reception function but also a variety of additional functions such as a communication function, a personal video recorder (PVR) function, and an electronic program guide (EPG) function.
OpenCable is a digital cable broadcast standard which includes both hardware and software specifications.
A hardware implementation of OpenCable includes an STB and a point of deployment (POD) module which separates conditional access/security functions from the STB, and a software implementation of OpenCable is OpenCable Applications Platform (OCAP), which is a middleware specification.
More specifically, OCAP is a standard for developing two-way applications. OCAP can provide web-based services for digital cable broadcasting and can thus support further advanced two-way services for viewers. OpenCable devices use the same middleware platform called OCAP and can thus share application software and content with one another.
High Definition Audio Video Network Alliance (HANA) has proposed a solution for connecting a built-in digital television (DTV) and one or more peripheral devices via IEEE 1394 so that the DTV and the peripheral devices can be controlled in an integrated manner, and that high-definition (HD) content can be shared between the DTV and the peripheral device. The HANA solution involves the use of a DTV equipped with a decoder and a web browser and a peripheral device equipped with a web server and a control page.
The HANA solution can enable a DTV to decode digital broadcast signals and HD content present in peripheral devices and can control the peripheral devices in an integrated manner using a web browser of the DTV as a graphic user interface (GUI).
The HANA solution can control all devices connected to an IEEE 1394 network using a single integrated remote control.
According to the HANA solution, EPG information, paper per view (PPV) data, video on demand (VOD) data, and shopping programs are transmitted between a HANA system including a HANA DTV, a television (TV) node, an audio/video (A/V) hard disc drive, and a HANA eXtended Home Theater (XHT) STB cable network interface unit (NIU), and an XHT STB as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) data, and user interfaces (UIs) are displayed in the HANA system and the XHT STB as HTML data.
If an OpenCable STB connected to a HANA system via IEEE 1394 is equipped with OCAP middleware, applications that are executed using Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) or OCAP middleware may not be provided as HTML data, and thus may not be able to be directly applied to the HANA system. In order for an IEEE 1394-based HANA system to utilize OCAP-based interactive services, an extension to the OCAP specification is required.
Applications for providing UIs for a HANA system and providing UIs for users and various HANA applications may be executed using a web browser included in an HTML-based HANA DTV.
The OCAP 1.0 specification provides Java-based applications, called OCAP-J applications, and Java-based UIs. OCAP-J applications, however, cannot be executed using a web browser of a HANA DTV.